[Jaspersharpe]

Who's going to buy that anyway when there's a vastly superior Rockfax version being produced?

[Falling Down]

Pete - I don't have a problem with Amazon at all (yet).   I'm just surprised that more investors don't give them grief for not making any money which means they can get away with undercutting competitors and distort markets.  For all the talk of Charities above, it's as if the investors are treating it like one 'cos they certainly aren't getting anything back.

[dave]

only offer BMC (or student or etc) discount.

The BMC discount is, in my experience, very rarely applied to guidebooks (or DVDs) in shops (they do discount when buying direct from them, but this is usually lost when it comes to the cost of postage).

From what I understand the retailers markup on books compared to general outdoor gear is pretty slim, hence they tend not to discount on em.

[Johnny Brown]

Shops have complained that they can buy the book cheaper there than they get it wholesale.

I've heard this too, I even know of one case where the author was unable to get copies cheaper than Amazon were selling them.

I guess the bigger they get the smaller the margin they can afford to operate on. I'm not sure a consumer boycott is likely to gain enough traction to be worthwhile. Where possible, I try to buy direct from the author/ publisher.

[slackline]

The BMC discount is, in my experience, very rarely applied to guidebooks (or DVDs) in shops (they do discount when buying direct from them, but this is usually lost when it comes to the cost of postage).

From what I understand the retailers markup on books compared to general outdoor gear is pretty slim, hence they tend not to discount on em.

Thats my understanding too.

[Falling Down]

I just had a look at the SEC filing...

Three months to Sept 2013.  $17bn in Income ($5bn in Media, $11.5bn in Electronics and General Merchandise, $1bn Other (AWS)) .   $41 Million Loss.

Not much margin there....

[tomtom]

Who's going to buy that anyway when there's a vastly superior Rockfax version being produced?

!!!!

you mean there are no pumpy arm or fluttery heart symbols next to the routes??? I'll ask MrsTT to send back the copy she got me for xmas. I'm disgusted.

[SA Chris]

Three months to Sept 2013.  $17bn in Income ($5bn in Media, $11.5bn in Electronics and General Merchandise, $1bn Other (AWS)) .   $41 Million Loss.

Not much margin there....

As they say turnover is vanity, profit is sanity. I'm surprised shareholders are so amicable. I don't get it.

[Johnny Brown]

I guess with $17bn turnover everyone gets pretty vain.

[Grubes]

It would be interesting to here v-publishings thoughts on the amazon pricing .. Cofe?

As for the loss everything is relative
$41m loss is only a 0.24% loss based on $17bn turnover.

[lagerstarfish]

my dad said that Amazon insist on 60% discount off the normal wholesale price - I questioned this, but he raised his eyebrows in a "how many books have you sold" kind if way - this prompted my usual "oooh look at me vanity publishing" face

[petejh]

I just had a look at the SEC filing...

Three months to Sept 2013.  $17bn in Income ($5bn in Media, $11.5bn in Electronics and General Merchandise, $1bn Other (AWS)) .   $41 Million Loss.

Not much margin there....

Not quite that simple, some of that 'loss' is re-investment to enable the company to expand and dominate more markets: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-24/same-old-amazon-all-sales-no-profit


 

As they say turnover is vanity, profit is sanity. I'm surprised shareholders are so amicable. I don't get it.

..and I'd love to have been an investor in amazon, no dividend but the 5 year chart shows incredible sustained growth:
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=AMZN+Interactive#symbol=amzn;range=5y;compare=;indicator=sma%2849,13%29+volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;

£1000 invested in Amazon stock 5 years ago today would have grown by approx 600%.
2 years ago: +100%
1 year ago: +55%


That's phenomenal. Wish I'd known. Compared to the generally downward roller-coaster gold and rare earth mining stocks I've taken punts on.

[petejh]

(deleted duplicate post)

[petejh]

whoops

[SA Chris]

That makes sense, if I was a dragon I would have been in!

[cofe]

Wow, I reported the review as abuse, and it's already gone.
...
Best history climbing book I've ever read!! Pictures, histories, all inspiring. I wish I could live in the Peak district...

Why would you want to report that as abuse?!

Phil

Indeed. Why was this reported as abuse?

[fried]

I must be getting paranoid, but a review for a book that someone bought on Amazon that they've never had in stock seems a bit suspiciously fake to me. I didn't so much report it as ask the above. I never expected it to be deleted.

[cofe]

Amazon have had stock of the book and you managed to get the first review removed, so thanks for that.

[dave]

I must be getting paranoid, but a review for a book that someone bought on Amazon that they've never had in stock seems a bit suspiciously fake to me.

Newsflash: the book is available from other places, and some people like to put reviews on amazon regardless of where they bought it.

[Wood FT]

no worries, the review is still there...?

http://www.amazon.com/Peak-Rock-history-routes-climbers/dp/1906148724/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1386348611&sr=8-6&keywords=peak+rock+book

[fried]

Sorry, apologies for that, it wasn't my intention. Hopefully I've repaired any damage done.

[Johnny Brown]

Amazon have had stock of the book and you managed to get the first review removed, so thanks for that.

Hey if you want us all to go on Amazon and give it rave reviews, just ask.

[petejh]

I might rave about how good a deal it is! 

[slackline]

I must be getting paranoid, but a review for a book that someone bought on Amazon that they've never had in stock seems a bit suspiciously fake to me. I didn't so much report it as ask the above. I never expected it to be deleted.

You can review items on Amazon that you bought elsewhere, reviews aren't restricted to purchased items.

The text you copied and pasted didn't give any indication of where it had been purchased.

[fried]

I'm not only paranoid, but also incredibly naive, I thought you actually had to buy the producy on Amazon to review it. Otherwise the place would be just full of shills. I now know this isn't so.